Backflips Backfired
by this is only a test
Summary: What might've went down when two of our favorite boys got caught doing gymnastics in public...


Disclaimer: I lack all ownership.

AN: Wow… found this in my documents. It's pretty crazy. I vowed I was going to repost everything, so uh, enjoy? lol

Gladys Peterson couldn't believe her eyes as she stepped outside the store. There, right in front of her, were two young men putting on a wild acrobatic display. She joined a small crowd of people huddled near the store entrance to watch the boys' impressive feats. Some of them were in awe, but most of them, like her, were appalled by the sight. This was a public street corner, after all, not the local circus.

A young boy made his way to the front of the crowd to get a closer look. "I wish I could be like them!" He admired the two acrobats for a brief moment before his mother yanked him back to her side.

"No son of mine will act like that in public," she scolded.

Gladys nodded slightly, approving the young mother's prompt action. Lord knows, the world didn't need any more rebellious youth. It seemed like every year the kids were getting more and more unruly. She didn't like it, and she missed how things were back in her day.

The lady standing beside her scowled. "Can you believe this?"

Gladys shook her head. In all honesty, she couldn't. She wondered what the world had come to with all these wild young men. Where were there parents? _Where _were their mothers? She certainly wouldn't have let any of her sons pull stunts like this.

The lady shook her finger violently in the young boys' direction before continuing on in a mad rant. "Kids these days … have they no decency? Why in the almighty universe are they doing cartwheels in a public street corner?"

"Well, they aren't decent. I can yell you that much." Gladys wrinkled her forehead and clenched her fists. "Just look at their hair! They probably haven't had it cut in years."

The lady nodded firmly in agreement. "They sure could use a good hair cut. And a shower, too! Look at them … just disgusting."

The two young men didn't seem fazed in the slightest that their public display was bothersome to several people in the crowd. They kept on with their feats of physical ability and skill, cheered on loudly by their peers, who were enjoying every minute of their act.

Gladys cringed at the words that were coming out to the mouths of both the actors and their audience. "You hear that fowl language? I'm eighty, and I can still hear exactly they're saying. Those hoodlums. They have no respect for society."

"Now they're doing gymnastics on streets corners; soon they'll be doing backflips in buildings!" She scowled, pausing for a moment but continued on with the same intensity in her voice. "They're setting a bad example for our children, and next thing you know, they'll be anarchy!"

"They oughta be put in jail. That's what I say," Gladys concluded. And she was going to turn them in. Had she learned anything in her eighty years, it was not to hold back when something needed to be done. They'd be locked away faster than she could walk if she had anything to say about it.

Before she went back into the store to call the police, she took one last look at the scene and did a double take. The smaller of the two looked awfully familiar. She couldn't quite pinpoint it at first, but after the boy had stopped doing gymnastics, he looked exactly like her housekeeper, Mrs. Curtis. Same golden hair, face shape … Lord, it had to be her son.

Gladys was mortified at her sudden realization. Mrs. Curtis seemed like a really decent woman; how could _her_ son be putting on such a display?

She sighed. Mrs. Curtis still wasa decent lady, which now made it Gladys's civic and moral duty to make sure her son turned out decent, too. She owed it to his mother and society. She was going to help this kid learn his lesson.

XXXX

Mrs. Curtis paced the living room, shooting Soda a glare every now and then. "Jail? My son in jail?"

"Mom, I'm sorry." He really meant it; it wasn't like he expected to be thrown in the cooler for doing gymnastics, or "disturbing the peace" as the fuzz called it. They were just messing around and having a good time. If he'd known they were going to get arrested, he'd have thought twice about it.

"And Gladys Peterson was the one that turned you in? _Gladys Peterson_? Glory, you probably gave her a heart attack."

"I really am sor—"

"Shame on you. She's the sweetest lady I've ever had the privilege of working for."

"I know. I'm—"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Not another word. You are in no position to talk, young man." She paused for a moment to catch her breath. God, was she ever livid. Not only had her son gotten himself jailed; he'd made her look bad to her favorite employer.

She grumbled. Gladys Peterson had always treated her above and beyond anyone else she'd ever worked her. Gladys always greeted her with a smile on her face and even chatted with her while she cleaned her house. Maybe she thought less of her now. Well, all those conversations they'd had about raising children properly certainly made her look like a hypocrite.

"You're going to apologize to Mrs. Peterson," Mrs. Curtis decided finally. "And …"

"Honey," Mr. Curtis broke in. "Don't ya think you're overreacting a bit?"

"Don't you go defendin' him now. What he did was wrong. I thought we agreed on that."

"But dear. Arrested for cartwheels?" Mr. Curtis broke out laughing, and she shot him a sharp glare. He paused for a moment to stifle his laughter before adding, "You gotta admit that's funny."

"It is _not_ funny!" she snapped at him before turning back to her son. "Go to your room. You're grounded."

Soda scurried off immediately, and once he was gone, she went straight back to glaring at her husband. "You're worse than him!" she cried incredulously.

"C'mon, Carrie, it's not so bad. No one got hurt …" he coaxed, but she shook her head firmly.

"I don't care. I did not raise _our_ son to behave so rudely in public." She grumbled, frustrated that her husband, _his father_, thought this was no big deal. She swore he was like her fourth son sometimes.

"At least it won't go on his permanent record."

"That's it," she said. "You can join him!"

"What?"

"That's right, mister, you're grounded, too."

He just about hit the floor laughing. Him grounded? His wife sure did have a great sense of humor sometimes. "Aww, and what're gonna ground me from?" he played along.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

She still sounded agitated but added a wink before leaving the room.

He frowned. Indeed, he did know what she was talking about.


End file.
